2012 210 Wake Bilge Pump

[MDH19]

It seems that the lowest point in the boat is not where the factory place the bilge pump in the engine compartment of this boat. I leave the boat in the water for a week at a time between uses and the ski locker can gain significant water if there is a small leak somewhere which doesn’t trigger the bilge in the rear of the boat. Hence, I’m considering installing a second bilge pump in the ski locker. Has anyone done this and if so how did you wire it to the battery?

 

[turbosl2]

It seems that the lowest point in the boat is not where the factory place the bilge pump in the engine compartment of this boat. I leave the boat in the water for a week at a time between uses and the ski locker can gain significant water if there is a small leak somewhere which doesn’t trigger the bilge in the rear of the boat. Hence, I’m considering installing a second bilge pump in the ski locker. Has anyone done this and if so how did you wire it to the battery?

Are you sure that’s the case? My ski locker has a false bottom. It is flat and is not the Vee shaped part of the hull. It also has a drain hole that goes back to the rear engine compartment. I have never seen water in there ever. It would require half my engines and fuel cell to be underwater. Now I don’t have a 210, I have a 230. Seems very strange. Maybe the water is coming thru your cover and your drain hole is plugged??

 

[MDH19]

Apologies for the delayed response and thank you for the reply. It’s interesting, ill check to see if my ski locker has a false bottom. Water does nonetheless gather in the locker vs the engine compartment. each week when I arrive, there may be a couple of inches of water in the locker and the engine compartment is bone dry. However, as soon as I start getting on a plane, the water drains to the back and is evacuated by the bilge pump. I have tried to snake the drain hole in the back of the ski locker and is haven’t made a difference. Last year i had a small leak in the truck-hull bolt fastener for the shaft guard in the back of the engine compartment and yet the ski locker would gain the water. This is why i though it was lower when in the water. I agree with you though -doesn't sound right. Puzzling!

 

[turbosl2]

Apologies for the delayed response and thank you for the reply. It’s interesting, ill check to see if my ski locker has a false bottom. Water does nonetheless gather in the locker vs the engine compartment. each week when I arrive, there may be a couple of inches of water in the locker and the engine compartment is bone dry. However, as soon as I start getting on a plane, the water drains to the back and is evacuated by the bilge pump. I have tried to snake the drain hole in the back of the ski locker and is haven’t made a difference. Last year i had a small leak in the truck-hull bolt fastener for the shaft guard in the back of the engine compartment and yet the ski locker would gain the water. This is why i though it was lower when in the water. I agree with you though -doesn't sound right. Puzzling!

For what it’s worth I washed the inside of my boat with buckets of water and the water stayed in my ski locker. It pluggs easy as the hole is small and all the debris goes in there. Just a few plunges with my palm will push it thru and get the hole draining again.

 

[roju6]

I'll second the comment about how easy some of the drain lines plug up, I also have a 230 but I'm quite sure the design is the same, the ski locker drains into the engine compartment to be pumped out by the bilge. The main deck drain at the back corner goes to the back and out above the water line through the scupper valve.
With a dog on board all the time, these lines can get plugged pretty easily, flush them out and use a snake and/or air line to blow through them.

 

[MDH19]

Thanks for your comments. I have tried to snake and even pressure wash the drain passage but the water keeps retiring to the ski locker, until I raise the bow enough to get it to flow to the engine compartment (when accelerating onto a plane). Strange I know. Will keep fiddling.

 

[roju6]

Can you post a pic of the ski locker setup and where the drain is? Now you've really got me wondering if the setup is vastly different than the 230.

 

[MDH19]

The left side of the picture is the rear of the ski locker. I have the factory wake boost system with all the pumps and hoses and you can see the ball valves for the thru-hull fittings. At the bulkhead to the back you can see a “U” shaped hole at the bottom. Beyond this there is no visibility so difficult to know why it’s not draining although I have snakes it. Hence, I assumed it was the lowest point on the boat.

 

[MDH19]

The left side of the picture is the rear of the ski locker. I have the factory wake boost system with all the pumps and hoses and you can see the ball valves for the thru-hull fittings for the ballast system. At the bulkhead to the back you can see a “U” shaped hole at the bottom. Beyond this there is no visibility. I have snaked it with a water hose several times but to no avail.

 

[roju6]

Something is still amiss here, that hole you're mentioning looks to be one of the holes through the hull fiberglass that connects the various compartments, but those are all underneath the floor, ski locker, etc. Again, unless the 210 is completely different, the ski locker on the 230 is a separate locker built into the floor of the boat, and suspends over the fiberglass hull, with a drain at the back and a hose leading to the back of the engine compartment.

If nobody else with a 210 chimes in, you'll need to take some better pictures of the ski locker from inside, and of the engine compartment. Also, how are you accumulating that much water in the engine compartment? It would seem a fitting or something is leaking somewhere that should be addressed?

 

[MDH19]

Apologies, got distracted by my day job. We had heavy rain last week so that could be the source of the water. Came back to the boat: engine compartment bone dry, bilge working fine, and yet the ski locker has about 6” of water. To your earlier point, on the 210 the ski locker sides follow the V of the boat but then is flat on the bottom but I don’t think there is a cavity underneath. I think it is solid on the 210. Here are some additional pic.

 

[roju6]

Wow, that is entirely different than the 230, I can see what you mean now. And I agree, if your bilge is dry, I would think too this is rain water collecting in the locker.

The drain that is in the lip of the ski locker, is that clean and working? You've run a garden hose or something through it to make sure it's completely free flowing? If that isn't working, I can see how rain water would back up into the ski locker.

That said, it also seems like there should be a drain from the ski locker to the bilge to take care of any water. If there isn't, that seems like a real design flaw. In this picture, does that hole not drain to the back of the boat to the bilge?

 

[MDH19]

Sorry for the delay. Yes, that hole I assume is meant to drain to the engine compartment but it doesn’t empty. I’ve now installed a second bilge pump in that compartment and it keeps it dry but still don’t know why it doesn’t drain to the engine compartment.

 

[roju6]

Yeah that's really odd, I would be following that to see what is stopping it from draining. At least having another bilge will do the job, but it should be gravity fixing the issue really.

 

[briancayko]

I have a 2010 210 non wake version so no factory ballast. The semicircle hole at the rear of the ski locker in mine drains deeper into the hull & then settles at the bilge pump. That drain hole does get plugged up easy.
I was going to ask if you had rain too as that will cause accumulation. After a day of in & out I will also have a few inches of water collect in there & not drain unless I can get it on an incline to drain it better or at some times I will pump it out with a drill pump.

 

[roju6]

So basically a bit of a design flaw if it gets plugged up that easy it seems like?

 

[briancayko]

So basically a bit of a design flaw if it gets plugged up that easy it seems like?

I imagine the thought is if the hole were to big that debris or smaller items could get lost through it ‍

I’m still curious if that floor is straight through to the bottom of the bot or a false bottom.

 

[Premix]

I have a 210se and the ski locker is the lowest point for water. Ive seen significant water accumulate during a rain storm, I’m not too concerned.

Don’t be distracted by the drain hole in the stringer or the shape of the bilge floor. It is what it is. These boats were not meant to be left in the water regularly, but if you’re disregarding this, you probably should install a shore power connection to mitigate the chances of it sinking. The manufacturer saw fit to mount the single pump in a place where it wouldn’t be triggered too frequently. You can add a second pump lower in the bilge, but you might not want an automatic pump at the lower point.